1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a universal, programmable interface which provides a transition between a printed circuit board and discrete wires.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many different electrical control and applications, such as those which utilize microprocessors, and the like, have a large plurality of input and output signals to be translated between printed circuit (pc) boards and discrete conductors or wires. An elevator system is a good example, having a large plurality of car call and hall call pushbuttons, and other switches, which generate input signals for the car controller and supervisory control. The control generates output signals for controlling the pushbutton lamps, hall lanterns, the door operator for the elevator car, and the like. The interface between the discrete wires of the input/output (i/o) signals and the pc boards usually includes barrier terminal strips having screw-type terminations for clamping the conductive portions of the discrete wires. A multiconductor cable having a card-edge connector on one end is engaged with the contact fingers of a pc board, and the other ends of the wires are individually soldered to the backside of the terminal strip. This is a laborious hand soldering job, especially in a system with a large amount of i/o signals.